Supreme Court Won’t Overturn Landmark Music Copyright Termination Ruling

The U.S.

Supreme Court on Monday (Oct.

19) refused to overturn a landmark ruling that extended copyright termination globally, rejecting an appeal by major labels that warnted it would cause “chaos” for the music business.

The justices affirmed a novel decision, won in January by Cyril Vetter over his 1963 rock classic “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love),” that said artists can use termination to regain not only American copyrights, but also overseas rights to the same songs.

That ruling undid decades of industry precedent.

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In June, Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music Group and BMG urged the Supreme Court to overturn it.

In an order Monday, the high court used a rare maneuver to refuse that request.

Four of the nine justices did not participate, and the remaining justices said the case could not be resolved in the coming term, meaning the ruling should be upheld.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson did not participate in the case, though it was unclear why.

Such an order leaves in place Vetter’s landmark win, but it does not make it the law of the land.

Other appeals courts, including those covering New York and Los Angeles, are not bound to rule the same way.

If they decide the issue differently, it would create a so-called circuit split that could make it more likely for the Supreme Court to review the issue again in the future.

Termination is a federal provision that gives creators a chance to recapture their copyrights decades after they sold them away.